651: Tanya Sanchez on Leading By Example

Albuquerque native, Tanya Sanchez, developed a passion for food at a young age while cooking with her father. Her dreams of becoming a restaurant owner began to bubble up during her years as a college student working in both corporate and independent restaurant settings.

Fast forward through 10 years in marketing, design, and as a small landscaping business owner, and it was time for Sanchez to take action on her dreams of being a restaurant owner. In 2015 the process leading into what would become Brixens started.

It's been nearly a 5 years uphill battle for Sanchez, overcoming one hurdle after another. Her hard work and dedication are finally paying off as Brixens is rapidly becoming a staple in Albuquerque's dining scene.

Show notes… Favorite success quote or mantra:

• "If you settle for good you will never have the courage or the motivation to be great."

In this episode with Tanya Sanchez we will discuss:

• Parents as mentors
• Show guests you care
• Treat your team as well (or better) than your guests
• Lead by example
• Major differences between corporate and independent
• Importance of systems vs. heart
• Don't be afraid to take advice from your team
• The IMMENSE importance of lawyers
• Partnerships
• Labor and overtime management
• Budgeting
• POS systems and the best ones to utilize and why
• Inventory time management

Today's sponsor:

BentoBox empowers restaurants to own their presence, profits and relationships. The hospitality platform disrupts third-party services that come between the restaurant and the guest. BentoBox puts the restaurant first and offers tools that drive high-margin revenue directly through the restaurant’s website. BentoBox is trusted and loved by over 5,000 restaurants worldwide including Union Square Hospitality Group, Eleven Madison Park, Gramercy Tavern, Lilia and more.

 

CAKE provides an easy-to-use integrated software and hardware solution to build better dining experiences for restaurant operators and their guests. With mobile marketing and waitlist management to point of sale payment processing, the CAKErestaurant management system helps you grow your business.  Learn more at trycake.com/unstoppable

Restaurant365 is a cloud-based, all-in-one, restaurant-specific accounting and back-office platform that seamlessly integrates with POS systems, payroll providers, food and beverage vendors. It generates accurate real-time reporting and analysis in user-friendly dashboards, facilitating immediate, data-driven decision making. Restaurant365 eliminates manual, error-prone processes and is designed to help restaurant businesses grow with functionality that helps optimize labor costs, reduce food costs and increase revenue.

 

Knowledge bombs

1. Which "it factor" habit, trait, or characteristic you believe most contributes to your success?
   • Constant desire to learn and to get better.
2. What is your biggest weakness?
   • Take on too much and try to do too many things at once; prioritize.
3. What's one question you ask or thing you look for during an interview?
   • The best servers walk with a sense of purpose so we have an exercise that tests that. Also test their ability to sell a food item.
4. What's a current challenge? How are you dealing with it?
   • Labor
5. Share one code of conduct or behavior you teach your team.
   • Do whatever you can to blow the guest's mind
6. What's one book we must read to become a better person or restaurant owner?
   • Zingerman's Guide to Giving Great Service
     GET THIS BOOK FOR FREE AT AUDIBLE.COM 
7. What's the one thing you feel restaurateurs don't know well enough or do often enough?
   • Appreciate your team and tell them so.
8. What's one piece of technology you've adopted within your four walls restaurant and how has it influence operations?
   1. Toast
   2. Open Table
   3. 7 shifts
   4. Foodager
   5. Tablee
9. If you got the news that you'd be leaving this world tomorrow and all memories of you, your work, and your restaurants would be lost with your departure with the exception of 3 pieces of wisdom you could leave behind for the good of humanity, what would they be?
   • Your actions matter
   • Keep getting better, don't be complacent
   • Let the people that you love know that you love them

Contact info:

Brixens website

Email: tanya@brixens.com

Thanks for listening!

Thanks so much for joining today! Have some feedback you’d like to share? Leave a note in the comment section below!

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Huge thanks to Tanya Sanchez for joining me for another awesome episode. Until next time!

 

Restaurant Unstoppable is a free podcast. One of the ways I'm able to make it free is by earning a commission when sharing certain products with you. I've made it a core value to only share tools, resources, and services my guest mentors have recommend, first. If you're finding value in my podcast, please use my links!